Bedridden patients often develop bedsores, circulatory deficiencies, and pulmonary problems due to their immobility.
To address this problem, many hospitals and nursing homes employ nurses, orderlies, or other staff to periodically turn patients between the supine and prone positions.
Some hospitals use very expensive specialty beds to turn patients from side to side or from the supine to the prone positions. These beds, however, are so expensive that they are generally reserved for only the most compromised patients.
Other hospitals use turning frames, like the turning frame illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,302,218 to Stryker. Stryker's turning frame comprises two patient engaging support surfaces operable to enclose a patient and sandwich a patient therein between and then rotate the patient 180°. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,238,539 to Koch discloses a bed capable of rotating a full 180° about a central longitudinal axis. Koch's bed includes hingedly mounted cushion supports that can be positioned and clamped over the patient before the bed is rotated 180°. U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,358 to Pyers discloses a related rollover traction device.
Other hospitals use super-structures that fit over a bed with lift mechanisms to turn a patient over 180°. An example of such a super-structure and its operation is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,371 to Fuller. Other patents also disclose super-structures to lift and/or rotate a patient side to side, but apparently not a full 180°. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,443 to Marmor discloses a superstructure that is positioned over a bed, and that provides a pull sheet that is slipped underneath a patient and hooked up to a rotating shaft to turn the patient from side to side. U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,723 to Smith also discloses a portable patient turning and lifting framework that is positioned over a bed. Straps of a patient litter are positioned beneath the patient and the patient is lifted above the bed surface. The patient can be lifted and turned from side to side. U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,874 to Kershaw also discloses a large lift device mounted over a bed with a turn-sheet to turn a patient from a back rest position to a side position. But neither Marmor's, Smith's, nor Kershaw's super-structures appear suitable for turning a patient 180° between supine and prone positions.
Some patents disclose hospital beds or operating tables with a pair of patient support platforms to transfer the patient from one platform to the other and turn the patient between supine and prone positions. U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0222811 A1 to Gilbert et al. discloses three embodiments of a rotational operating bed with first and second patient support platforms that can be operated to transfer the patient from one of the platforms to the other while turning the patient between the supine and prone positions. The platforms are operable to be positioned or articulated into approximately 90° angles in relation to each other and rotated to facilitate the transfer.
European Patent Application No. 1 364 635 A1 to Vassilli s. r. l. discloses a hospital bed comprising two half-frames that can independently inclined to assist transferring a patient from a lateral position to a seated position. It appears that it may also be operable to assist turning the patient between supine and prone positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,613,371 to Keyes discloses a “Turnover Bed” comprising two mattresses set at 90° to each other and supported for rotation on a single horizontal longitudinal axis together with a mechanism for rotating the mattresses together through an arc of 90°. In this manner, a patient lying supine can be rotated 90° to her side, and then pulled over onto her stomach into the prone position. Or a patient lying prone can be rotated 90° onto her side, then pulled over into the supine position.
The Gilbert, Vassilli, and Keyes beds, however, are specialty beds. They are not designed as low-cost accessories to an existing hospital bed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,966,081 to Sharps et al. describes an elaborate pair of inflatable assemblies. One of the inflatable assemblies is placed on a conventional transport device such a stretcher. The other inflatable assembly is placed a conventional operating room table adjoining the stretcher. The two assemblies are then operated in conjunction to tilt the patient between a supine position and a prone position while transferring the patient between the stretcher and the operating table.
Other patents disclose sheet mechanisms designed for turning a patient between supine and prone positions. U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,010 to Geary, and especially FIG. 8, discloses a bed with a first sheet that passes from a first reel at a first side of the bed underneath and over the patient and back to a second reel on the first side of the bed, the first sheet is also connected to a second sheet that is wound at an opposite end to its connection with the first sheet to a third reel on the second side of the bed. The reels are operated by motors to rotate a patient enclosed within the first sheet between supine and prone positions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,905 to Palmer, and in particular FIGS. 9-15, discloses a system involving a sheet operated by rollers on each side of a bed's mattress to rotate a patient between the prone and supine positions. U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,862 to Palmer also discloses a patient rotation system based on a conceptually similar approach.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,225 to Witter discloses a flexible sheet designed to be wrapped around the patient and connected on both sides via fasteners to the right or left bed rail. To turn a patient over, the top flap of the sheet is transferred over to the opposite bed rail, and then the bottom flap of the sheet is pulled to also connect it to the opposite bed rail, turning the patient in the process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,793 to Walker discloses a draw sheet that operates according to a similar approach.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,456 to Votel discloses a patient transfer device that includes a sheet for rolling a patient to a desired position. U.S. Patent Pub. No. 20040221388 to Votel discloses a sheet, sheet gripper, and winch mechanism for a hospital bed to move a patient lying on the sheet. However, it is not clear whether the latter mechanism is capable of or designed for turning a patient between the supine and prone positions.
There is a need for an economic tilt-capable stretcher that can cooperate with an economic patient tilting bed to move a patient between the prone and supine positions.